Data storage systems are used to store large quantities of data in a fast and integrated manner. Data storage systems are often configured to provide a management interface to a user, such as a storage administrator, operating a management application in network communication with a management server in communication with the data storage system. The management application allows the user to view information about the configuration and operation of the data storage system.
In a typical arrangement, the management server maintains a set of Common Information Model (CIM) objects in memory in order to represent the state of the data storage system. The management application communicates with the management server using the CIM protocol encoded in XML format (CIM-XML format).